The 2015 WRX STI is ready to kick ass in Germany

The WRX STI NBR Challenge is the business.

From June 19-22, 2014, the ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race at Nordschleife & Sprintstrecke, better known as the Nürburgring 24 Hours, will be joined by a fresh entrant from Japan. Subaru has announced the development of a WRX endurance racer for tarmac—the WRX STI NBR Challenge. Music to our ears.

It's unclear if this is related to the WRXs seen testing at the Nürburgring over the last year, and they haven't released the technical details, but we do know it's a new platform based on the 2015 WRX. Last year's GVB—a carryover from 2011—featured an awesome twin-scroll turbo EJ20 making 335 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque, so expect incremental improvements there. The team's general manager is Hideharu Tatsumi from STI, and two European drivers are joining the factory's Toshihiro Yoshida and Kota Sasaki. Testing in Japan should be completed by the end of January, and the car will then compete in the VLN Endurance series at Nürburgring, starting with the 24 Hours qualifier on April 5 and 6.

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The 24 Hours is a German-dominated event, but Subaru has won its 2-liter SP3T class the last two years, and with STI working on this car throughout the whole WRX development cycle, there's no reason to think they won't do it again.